


Watch Duty and Teludavs

by MidnightCreator



Series: Paladin Pack [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Episode: s02e05 Eye of the Storm, Gen, Kitsuna Centric, alternate title: The one where Kell and Nekko sit in the bedroom all episode, episode rewrite, the door got stuck when Coran started diverting power, this did not take as long as I thought it would
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 03:51:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9956351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightCreator/pseuds/MidnightCreator
Summary: Zarkon found the Castle shortly after everyone returned from Olkarion. They manage to escape but with the team still exhausted from their previous battle, Kit takes watch duty while everyone else tries to relax. The time allows her to think some things over.





	

Kit hated this. Not just because Zarkon decide to pop out of nowhere at launch an attack less then an twenty minutes after they returned from Olkarion, or that everyone was exhausted and still giving the fight their all. No, what really made her hate the whole situation was that there was barely anything that she could do to help.

Technology was like a foreign tongue to her, confusing, strange and practically gibberish in her mind. When she and her brothers escaped the Galra, Kellan and Nekko had done most of the flying. They both seemed to have a bit more of a grasp on how technology worked.

But she had no clue where to begin with all this.

It hadn’t bothered her much before. Most of the resent battles had been primarily on planets, where she could use her magic and fighting abilities on solid ground and add her contribution. But in space? She couldn’t do anything but watch, occasionally yelling out a ship she spotted on the screen and even that wasn’t really needed.

And she knew her brothers felt the same. She could feel their itching need to leap into the fray and battle alongside the Paladins, and their seething anger at having to hold back and let the people who knew how to control the ship and its weapons fight the battle.

She hated every second of just standing and watching.

When they emerged on the other side of the wormhole, not quite where they had been headed but far enough away from Zarkon, Allura’s knees bulked and she started to drop. Kit yelped in alarm and moved forward; being the closest she easily was by the princess’s side and steadying her fall within a few steps.

“Allura!” Coran exclaimed as he hurried over, followed closely by the humans of the ship.

“I’m fine,” Allura said, trying to sound authoritative despite the waver in her voice.

Kellan crouched next to her and narrowed his eyes, “No, you’re not. You have obviously exhausted yourself.”

“You need a rest Allura. And I need to examine the main turbine,” Coran said as he straightened. “See if I can figure out what’s goinnneeeg whoa!” All eyes watched as the Altean advisor proceeded to slide and slip across the floor and Kit winced sympathetically when he slam right into the wall.

“Are you all right?” Lance asked.

“Perfectly fine, just hit a slippery spot! Someone want to clean that up?”

Nekko’s ears perked up and he tilted his head, “You’re sweating…a lot. Is that normal?”

“You might have a case of the Slipperies,” Allura stated, as if she was saying Coran had a cold.

Said Altean gasped and spluttered as if Allura had insulted his mustache, “Slipperies?! Nonsense, that’s an old person virus and I am not old I’m young!”

“Uh-huh,” Kit smirked and made a show of looking at Coran from head to toe.

“Well…young-ish.”

Lance frowned and looked back at Allura, “What are the Slipperies?”

“It’s a common Altean virus that occurs…later in life,” Allura explained, voice regaining some strength and an edge of humor as she moved to sit on her own. “It isn’t harmful, it only lasts a couple of days but it causes the body to secrete extremely slick fluids.”

The Paladin’s all exclaimed in varying degrees of disgust at the description and moved so that they were more behind Allura. Nekko wrinkled his nose and stepped more towards Kellan, who, having dealt with numerous ailments, had little reaction.

Kit snorted to herself, ‘It can’t be worse then dragon spit.’

That got Kell to shudder slightly.

“Yes, it is gross!” Coran piped up, looking as if he was putting a lot of energy into not slipping on his own ‘sweat’. “So it is a good thing I do not have it.”

Allura smiled, “It is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“I am not embarrassed because I don’t have it!” Coran huffed and turned towards the door. “Now if you will excuse me I need to go and fix the turbine.”

Kit grinned, watching Coran walk and go nowhere before promptly falling and sliding out the door with a yell of ‘Quiznak’.

Shiro sighed, “Well, while Coran does that we might as focus on our next step. Maybe we can figure out where the Blade of Marmora’s main base is. Pidge, can you tell us where the coordinates are?”

“Wait, hang on,” Pidge moved sluggishly in her chair as she tapped almost aimlessly at the screen, the adrenaline from their sudden firefight leaving her body in a state of exhaustion. “Ugh, I’m so tired my brain isn’t working.”

Murmurs of agreement followed Pidge’s statement and Lance went to lean on Kell as he grumbled about his brain no longer working as well.

“With all due respect Shiro,” Kellan said, patting Lance’s head in a comforting gesture. “I think resting is the best idea while the castle is being repaired. And I know,” he turned to Nekko. “That you did not have sufficient time to recuperate. Bed.”

Nekko huffed, but complied, shuffling off towards the shared bedroom to finish his nap.

As he left a large screen appeared at the front of the control deck with Coran on it, “I’ve checked the engines!”

“That was fast,” Kit grunted in agreement with Pidge as they watched Coran scrabbled about the room he was in.

“Well I slipped right- oof,” Kit winced again as Coran fell and stood up again unsteadily with a dark bruise already forming on his forehead. “I mean, hurried down. Anyway, good news! The Galra fighter did minimal damage, I flushed out the turbine and it’s fine. Bad news, the teludav, or wormholer as you Earthling call it, is in bad shape. Several of the scaultrite lens-stones of the magnifying beam generator are cracked.” Kit started to tune out as Coran launched into an explanation about how the wormhole thing worked, focusing instead on helping Allura to her feet.

“It’ll take a least a quintant,” Coran finished as Allura found her balance and moved away from Kit.

“Alright,” Shiro turned to his team. “We’ll hide the ship and get some rest while Coran finishes repairs. Tomorrow we’ll be sharper and refocused.”

“Do not sit here and stare out the window Shiro,” Kellan warned as the younger Paladins wondered out of the control deck. “You need rest just as much as the rest of us.”

“Someone has to watch the Castle,” Shiro argued. “And you’re exhausted too. You used a lot of energy healing the Olkari.”

“I can watch the deck,” Kit piped up, tail wagging. “Just show me what to press to sound the alarm and I’ll be on it.”

“Kit would be the best choice,” Kellan agreed before Shiro could protest. “She has remarkable energy, even after using large amounts of magic she can keep going for a good amount of time.”

Shiro frowned but nodded, “Alright, but I’m giving her a rundown of the controls.”

“Kit, chase him to his room if he tries to stay in here to long,” Kellan said as he placed a hand on Allura’s shoulder and guided her towards the door.

Kit giggled, “Will do.”

“Is he always that pushy?” Shiro groaned after the door slid closed.

“No,” Kit followed him. “Sometimes he’s worse.”

Shiro chuckled at that and walked over to his control seat, bringing up the holographic screen, “Just sit down so I can show you how to work this.”

Kit all but jumped into the chair, eager to contribute to her pack.

“Okay, most of this is for scanning,” Shiro gestured to the center screen. “This here will flash if the Castle detects anything abnormal and you can check it out using these buttons.” To demonstrate, Shiro pressed one of the buttons and it brought up an image of the outside of the Castle appeared over the blue controls, he tapped the image to collapse it. “And this over here is the intercom. Just hold down the button and yell, the alarms should go off automatically if the Castle is in danger but you can’t be too careful.”

Kit nodded along as Shiro explained, ears up and at full attention, “Okay, got it. How do I work the weapons?”

“You shouldn’t have to-”

“But I might! Just show me how to work them, please?”

Shiro sighed, “Okay, okay, no need for that puppy face.”

Kit grinned, “Lance would be so proud.”

“Yes, yes, playing dirty like your newfound baby brother taught you,” Shiro rolled his eyes and pointed to a button on Kit’s left. “That will bring up weapon controls, you saw how we were handling them before, right?”

“Yes,” Kit nodded. “Alright, I’ve got this, you go and rest before Kellan comes in here and grabs you by your scruff.”

“I don’t really have a scruff,” Shiro pointed out but moved to comply, poorly hiding a yawn in his hand. “Just call if something happens.”

“Will do Human Alpha,” Kit saluted and watched Shiro until he was out the door of the main control deck.

That left Kit alone, watching the various light blue screens with the intensity that she often had when hunting. She felt joy at being able to help, even if it was just watching the screens while everyone rested.

Of course, she couldn’t hold her intense focus. She still watched the monitors and the large observation window but as time ticked by her mind wandered slightly. She absently reached through her bond.

Nekko was asleep and would likely stay asleep for a very long time. Kellan was out to, not surprising considering how thin he had stretched himself. Everyone else seemed to be up. Kit couldn’t tell what they were doing but no one felt to badly on edge. Well, except for Coran, Coran seemed to be a bit frustrated. Weather it was from repairs or his Slipperies Kit had no clue.

She thought about the planets they had visited. There weren’t many but she relished each time her feet hit solid ground. Space was great and all but nothing beat dirt, grass, trees and rivers.

Then her thoughts drifted to the Paladins.

She thought of Lance, the pup with an endless amount of energy and enthusiasm. He was skilled at hiding his insecurity though, so well that Kit felt sure she would forget how bad Lance’s self-decrypting thought could get if she wasn’t bonded to him. But he was also talented, the best shot she had ever seen, loyal to his pack, caring, and seemed to know exactly what to say to release the tension in a room. She felt sure that he would fit in quite well on Patria. Maybe as a dolphin Balaenidae? That seemed like it would suit him.

Hunk reminded her of a large verity of cat; big and powerful, fierce to his enemies and kind to his pack, not to mention good with his hands. Kit had watched a few times as Hunk worked on various projects and she was always amazed at what he could do with a few tools, wire and pieces of metal. And his cooking was so mouthwatering that it put even the meals of festival feasts to shame. Kit smiled as she pictured Hunk amongst her own pack, laughing with them as they prepared for festivities.

Pidge was an odd one, saying words that slipped past Kits understanding and using technology so fluently that it was like the stuff was ingrained into her bloodlines. And she was as strong and determined as warriors twice her age, perhaps more so. Kit giggled a bit, remembering how excited Pidge had been when Coran showed her his little floating cube thing. Small and clever yet child-like in many ways, she would definitely be one of those foxes with the tan fur and big ears.

Keith had been hard to bond with, mostly because he seemed far more paranoid then everyone else. But he had warmed up to them eventually and Kit got to see the human behind the armor. Keith was, undoubtedly, a formidable warrior, skilled in fighting hand to hand and from within his lion, fast and deadly in his tactics. But the pup was a softy at heart, Kit had seen the way he would sometimes let his walls fall and show the calmer, far gentler soul underneath. Like a jaguar, a black one. Yes, that fitted in her mind.

Shiro was the classic definition of an Alpha; calm, reliable, kind, and fierce, a skilled pilot, well-rounded in his combat style, and willing to protect his pack from anything. And he did it all with Phantom Visions that were nearly as bad as Nekko’s. Kit didn’t spend as much time with Shiro as she did with the others, that was reserved for Nekko, but she had interacted with the Black Paladin enough to clearly see the pup hidden under that leader-ish armor, a pup who liked cynical jokes and was as competitive and Lance and Keith when you pushed him far enough. Kit thought he would be a wolf if he was a Patrian.

Coran was like Lance in a lot of ways, loud, energetic and egger to please. Not quite as much of a flirt though. He was brilliant and caring, not much of a cook but the fact he always tried his best was admirable. Kit grinned as she pictured him as a cat, maybe one with bright ginger fur, or maybe an extremely colorful Koi.

Allura would definitely be a wolf. Capable and powerful, driven by her goal and unwilling to let herself waver in the face of danger. She was a leader who just needed a bit of smoothing out. Kit wasn’t really sure how old Allura was by Altean standards, but she was pretty sure the princess was relatively young. And the feats that the princess undertook at her young age were very impressive.

Kit frowned a bit. When she thought about, the only well and true adults on the Castle-Ship were Coran and Kellan. Everyone else was either just crossing the threshold into adulthood or still a few years away from it. She and Nekko were a bit into their own adult years, but it wasn’t really by much.

It made her chest tighten when she thought about how young everyone here was and the incredible size of the war they were all fighting. It was as bad as the War of Balor.

Her mental train was broken by the doors sliding open. Kit looked over her shoulder and frowned when she saw who was walking into the room, “I’ve got it covered.”

“I know,” Shiro smiled and walked to stand next to her. “But I couldn’t get comfy in my room. As long as I’m resting Kellan won’t complain.”

Kit snorted. Knowing her brother, he would scold Shiro and tell him that resting was not the same as sitting still in one place, “Keep telling yourself that Shiro.”

“Seen anything?”

“Just space, and space, maybe a star or two aaaaaand some more space!”

Shiro chuckled and shook his head. Kit laughed along, wagging her tail.

The two sat in silence, Kit watching at her post while Shiro absently watched her. Their lull of quite content was eventually broken, however, by the door opening again.

“Allura, you should be resting,” Shiro said as he stood up.

Kit laughed at that, “So skipping a nap is only allowed for you?”

Shiro gives Kit a glare, but Allura speaks before he can argue back, “I could not sleep. Zarkon could attack us at anytime, I have to be ready.”

“I know you’re worried about Zarkon,” Shiro said, walking over to Allura and putting his hand on hers. “But you need to step back and let yourself rest.”

“Plus, Coran said we’re several galaxies away from that creep,” Kit added. “We’re safe for awhile, right?”

In hindsight, Kitsuna really should have seen it coming when Zarkon’s warship appeared. The universe really, really liked throwing anything it could into their faces.

\---------------

“I’ve realized that I may, in fact, have a case of the Slipperies.”

“No, you think?” Kit barked out.

Under most circumstances she probably wouldn’t have snapped at the advisor. But crouching next to Shiro’s control seat, trying to not fall over while the Castle was being ruthlessly attacked by an intergalactic tyrant were not really most circumstances.

If Coran noticed her snapping, he didn’t comment, he instead turned to Pidge, “I’m sorry I yelled Pidge, but I might need you help after all.”

“I coming down,” Pidge jumped out of her chair and ran for the hallway.

Shiro turned to Kit, “Take over Pidge’s station. We need to clear a path.”

“Got it!” Kit scrabbled up and claimed Pidge’s chair, tapping the controls so that the weapons system popped up.

The controls were…weird. The handle-like holograms were solid enough for Kit to grab and yet it simultaneously felt like she was controlling nothing air. But she was nothing if not a fast learner and watching what everyone else did out of the corner of her eye had her dodging and weaving the little drone around and taking down Galra fighters just as well as the other Paladins.

And it was exhilarating. Being able to help in the heat of battle in an environment that she was leaps and bounds out of her league in, being useful and not just standing in the background, it made her want to yip and howl with joy.

But it was short lived when Coran and Pidge were forced to divert just about everything into the wormhole generator. And even with them putting all they could spare into it, the castle was barely able to put decent distance between them and Zarkon.

Kit sighed and looked around at the still exhausted crew before reaching out to her brothers.

‘Guys?’

‘We’re alright Kit, just a bit shaken.’

Kit relaxed a bit when she heard Kell in her mind, ‘This isn’t good.’

‘No, it’s not. But we cannot give up.’

Kit sighed again and looked up at the main screen as Coran popped into view, “Bad news, many of the lenses completely shattered and more have cracked. We can’t make another jump unless we replace them.”

Shiro leaned forward and Kit tensed a bit and the heaviness he seemed to move with, “He keeps finding us, like he knows our every move. Maybe he’s planted some kind of device.”

“There is nothing on the ship,” Allura said. “The Castle would have detected it.”

“So, until we know how, we need to stay sharp and on our guard.”

Kit nodded at the statement, but her stomach was rolling uncomfortably. Everyone was still exhausted, still in desperate need of a good long rest. She could feel her brothers were still exhausted as well, the only reason they were even awake was because of the sudden attack. Her worry was only further cemented when Hunk fell asleep and then startled himself awake again.

“Well, there is a bit of good news,” Pidge said, tapping away at the screens in the generator room. “There a giant metallic storm just ahead of us. If Zarkon is tracking us we can use the storm to scrabble his scanners.”

Shiro nodded, “Worth a shot.”

“Uh…” Kit raised a hand. “How is a storm supposed to help?”

“It’s metallic,” Lance explained. “Those kinds of storms mess with equipment like scanners and tracking devices. Makes it harder to pinpoint us with radar and stuff.”

“Oh.”

The Castle rumbled as Allura piloted it into the storm, descending slowly into the very center of it. Kit’s ear flattened as the stars disappeared behind a thick cloud of dust, rock and bits of glinting metal.

“Excellent idea Pidge,” Allura praised. “We're essentially invisible to any radar, radio waves, universal scans, or any other known technology.”

Kit frowned, and hunkered down a bit in her seat, “Yeah, but he may not be using traditional methods.” Her mind drifted to her time with the Druids. Their magic was strange and dark and unreadable to her. They could have easily put some kind of spell on her, made it so they could find her no matter where she went in the universe and she would have been none the wiser.

‘Don’t go there,’ Nekko growled in her mind.

“Kit?” She looked up at Lance, who was looking at her with concern. “You alright?”

“Fine, I’m good Lance. Just tired.”

“Um, guys?” Hunk gestured upwards.

The Castle alarms started to blink red as all eyes looked to where Hunk was pointing to the hulking form of Zarkons ship looming over the eye of the storm.

“Oh come on!” Lance cried.

Pidge appeared on the main screen again, “Okay, I don’t know how he found us but it wasn’t with normal instruments!”

“It’s me,” everyone’s heads snapped up to Allura, and Kit could feel the shock and disbelief building in everyone. “It has to be me. It’s how he found us on Arus.”

‘Or it could be me, that witch-’

‘It’s not you Kitsuna!’ Nekko snapped again in her mind. ‘We’ll figure it out later but right now, you’re the most able to help the Paladins.’

“It doesn’t matter Princess,” Shiro stated firmly. “We’re in this together and we’re going to get out of this together.”

“Uh, how?” Hunk asked. “We’re kind of trapped here.”

“We form Voltron and go through the storm.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?” Lance stood up, eyes wide in shock. “Through the storm? What are you, nuts?”

Hunk spluttered in a way that Kit was pretty was agreement with Lance, “Why would we do that?”

“I know it’s risky, but it’s the only option we have. We go through the storm and lure Zarkon away long enough for Allura to get into open space.”

“And you’re not worried over Zarkon doing that ‘taking over you lion’ thing,” Kit asked. She did not like this plan. Not even a little. And the idea that Shiro could get ejected into space, right next to a very nasty looking storm or even in it, was not helping.

“We just need to keep him away from the Castle long enough for Allura to wormhole,” Shiro looked back at the screen with Coran and Pidge. “Coran, I know you said wormholeing right now is impossible. But I need you to do the impossible.”

Kit whined in the back of her throat as the Paladins ran into the elevators that would take them to their lions. She watched on as the main screen switched to an outside view of the castle. The lions came into view briefly before the five came together in a brilliant flash of blue light, emerging as Voltron.

“Those five better be alright,” Kit growled to herself.

Allura’s hands began to move like lighting across her controls, “Coran, have you figured something out?”

“It’s impossible Allura,” Coran cried, animatedly slipping around the screen. “Each remaining lens would have to take the power of five beams. It just can’t be done, the entire thing would explode!”

“Isn’t there, I don’t know, temporary lenses somewhere you can use?” Kit was getting agitate again, she could feel the fur along her spine standing on end and her stomach twisting in nervous knots.

“Afraid not, even if there is scaultrite on board we don’t have enough time to make new lenses.”

Kit growled, “There has got to be something we can do.”

“If there is another way, you must find it quickly Coran.”

“Will do princess!”

Kit glance up, watching as the Galra fighters chased after Voltron and were almost instantly ripped apart by the storm. She growled again and tried to reach through her bond with the humans, but the distance proved to be a problem when she could only feel Lance. The other were there, but feeling their spirits was much more difficult.

‘Their fine,’ Kellan reassured her. ‘Shiro knows what he’s doing. The others are strong. They’ll make it.’

‘You’re worried to! You and Nekko both!’

“Hold on!” Kit snapped out of her trance as Allura piloted the castle upwards and out of the storm.

When the Castle emerged into open space, Kitsuna looked around franticly for the Paladins, “Where are-” she cried out when a sudden blinding pain invaded her mind.

“Kit!” Allura cried, voice sounding vary far away. “Kit, what’s wrong?”

“Shiro,” Kitsuna gasped. “Shiro…something’s…happening…Shiro…”

Kit gasped and panted, the pain was nearly unbearable, like someone was trying to rip her apart from the inside out. If it was this bad for her, the thought of what Shiro was going through made her shake even more.

She could feel everyone else to, they were all scared and in some degree of pain. She could feel her brothers and Allura’s mounting fear and the thrum of Nekko Spirit Beast.

‘NEKKO DON’T YOU DARE! YOU CAN’T USE THAT MUCH POWER YET!’

‘They need help!’

The Castle shook and Kit looked up in time to see a bright blue beam from the Castle striking Zarkons ship.

“Paladins, fall back!” Allura’s voice still sounded muffled to Kit. But she relaxed when she felt the pain fading and saw the lions returning to the Castle.

“What…happened…,” she asked breathlessly.

“Zarkon tried to take over the Black Lion again,” Shiro explained hoarsely through the comm. “I…forget how intense that can be.”

Kit nodded numbly, and turned to Allura, “We gotta get out of here.”

“I know, Coran will tell us when he’s ready.”

“Actually, I may have a plan!” Coran appeared on the main screen again. “It’s risky, but it should work.”

“Risky…ha,” Kit huffed. “Risky has been out catchphrase today.”

“Tell us when you’re ready Coran,” Allura said. “And hurry.”

“Right! Paladins, into the turbine!”

Kit jerked slightly, “Wait, what?”

\-----------------

“Oh potzblitz, are you all okay?” Kit didn’t even think twice as she scrabbled into the turbine with the five slightly singed looking Paladins.

“Alive…” Lance groaned and rolled onto his back.

Kit sighed in relief and looked at Coran, “We are never doing something like this again.”

“Agreed,” Coran sighed as he wiggled his way out from between the teludav lenses. “That was quite a dangerous thing to do, but it worked!”

“Yeah, but it was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done,” Hunk sat up slowly, rubbing his arms.

“Well, I’m glad to see you all are in one piece,” Allura slimed at them all.

“Can we please sleep now?” Lance sat up on his elbows and gave Shiro a pleading look.

Shiro sighed and Kit could tell he was just as wrung out as everyone else despite how hard he was trying to mask it, “For awhile, yeah, everyone should rest. But we still need to figure out how Zarkon found us.”

Kit frowned as a heavy silence fell over them, her mind going to a very dark place.

‘What if he found us through me? Am I endangering everyone here?’

‘Kit you’re not a danger!’

‘How do you know that Nekko?’

‘I…I…’

Nekko couldn’t come up with a response. Kit knew he couldn’t because he didn’t have another answer.

Either Haggar did something had some kind of spell on Kit or she didn’t and Kitsuna feared greatly of what might happen if her worries were justified.

**Author's Note:**

> Ta-da. This is actually the longest single chapter fic I've done for this series.  
> Poor Kit doesn't like not helping and I shamelessly insert what kind of Patrian creatures that Voltron crew would be.
> 
> Thanks for reading, comments are always appreciated and I'm hoping you have an awesome day. :3


End file.
